Beards are taking on bowel cancer this Christmas

Morag Kuc

Look out for beards everywhere in Scotland this winter as Decembeard is on its way.

Beating Bowel Cancer’s Decembeard campaign asks men to grow a beard – or decorate the beard they have - for the month of December to raise awareness of bowel cancer and raise funds for the charity to help them support all those affected by the disease.

Decembeard is a fun campaign in aid of a very serious cause. Each year in the UK, more than 40,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer and 16,000 each year die from the disease. But it doesn’t have to be that way because 90% of those diagnosed at an early stage can be successfully treated. That’s why awareness of the disease and its symptoms is crucial in improving survival rates and such an important part of the Decembeard campaign.

Over the last five years thousands of men around the UK have supported the campaign. The awareness it has raised has undoubtedly saved lives and the funds raised for the charity have enabled them to provide support services to a great many bowel cancer patients and their families.

But thousands more people are diagnosed each year, so the charity is once again asking men to become a Decembeard champion to help themharness the power of the beard.

Chief Executive of Beating Bowel Cancer, Mark Flannagan, said: “Decembeard is a fun and simple way for men to help us take on bowel cancer. I’m hoping as many people as possible from Scotland will get behind the cause. The money raised will help to fund the charity’s work supporting people with bowel cancer and their families and raising awareness of the disease, its symptoms and the need for early diagnosis.”

If you’re willing to go grizzly throughout December, dye or decorate your existing face fur or hold a ‘beardy’ event in the local area, you can check outDecembeard.org today and join the hairy band of brothers taking on bowel cancer beard by beard.